Thomas Howard Carlisle

THOMAS HOWARD CARLISLE

April 28, 1939 - March 2, 2025

Lighting/Bubble Light Designer

Tom was the oldest of five and was raised in Chicago, Cincinnati and Cleveland, the son of Dorothy Kelly and Howard Carlisle. He leaves behind siblings, Anne Carlisle Noonan (Walter), Mary Carlisle Peloquin (Robert), Kitty Carlisle LeDonne (Jeff), as well as many cousins, nieces, and nephews. Tom was predeceased by his parents and sister Lynn Carlisle.

Tom was well known for his passion for things Christmas. If asked why he was so infatuated with Christmas, one would have to pull up a chair because Tom was a storyteller. It began at the age of five when he became entranced with his family's beautifully lighted Christmas tree. The C6 bulbs with their many metal reflectors captured his imagination.

Tom's parents moved to a farm south of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1945. Tom would recall how the snowfall at this house transformed the neighborhood into a winter wonderland. The first Christmas at the farmhouse they cut down their own Christmas tree and brought it home on a toboggan. It was a wonderful experience for which he commissioned a painting that remains a family heirloom.

Christmas season was even better when the family moved to a house on a lake near the town of Chagrin Falls. When the snow was not too deep to shovel, Tom and the neighborhood children would skate on the lake before heading home for hot chocolate in front of a cheery fireplace. The town of Chagrin Falls was aglow with hundreds of colored lights on pine trees and people in horse-drawn sleighs. All Tom could think of was the song his grandmother would sing to him: "Dashing Through the Snow."

Tom became an electrical engineer. He was a radar and communications electronics technician for the U.S. Navy from 1960 to 1964 and was stationed on the USS Beale during the Cuba Missile Crisis. After his service, Tom focused his interests on lighting color, design and electronics. While at G.E.'s lighting lab (1965 - 1969), Tom was placed three rooms from where new Christmas lights were being developed. Tom was in heaven and the men at G.E. who gave us Christmas in color became Tom's friends for life.

Tom became renown for manufacturing specialty Christmas lighting, most especially his bubble lights. In 1980 Tom and a group of Christmas lighting professionals decided to form an organization for antique Christmas items. Tom coined the organization "The Golden Glow of Christmas Past." This small group is now an international entity with 2,300+ members. Tom loved to say he was always all about "The Glow."

This past March 2nd the earthly Christmas jingle was taken down one octave with Tom's passing and increased many times in Heaven as Tom arrived at his beloved work bench filled with bubble light parts.